Display module and display apparatus having the same

ABSTRACT

Display apparatus includes LEDs, bottom chassis to accommodate the LEDs; and reflective member disposed on the bottom chassis. The reflective member includes a reflective bottom portion, and a reflective inclined portion obliquely formed to face a rear surface of the display panel which includes first regions that respectively correspond to LEDs located adjacent to the reflective inclined portion, and second regions each provided between two neighboring first regions and has a reflective characteristic different from a reflective characteristic of a neighboring first region. Second regions and neighboring first regions are on the reflective inclined portion having a uniform incline angle with respect to a side edge of the reflective bottom portion, the first regions include a group of light adjusting members, and the group of light adjusting members of each of the first regions is disposed to correspond to one of the LEDs disposed adjacent to the reflective inclined portion.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.17/569,164 filed Jan. 5, 2022, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 17/038,769 filed Sep. 30, 2020, now U.S. Pat. No.11,249,347 issued Feb. 15, 2022, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 16/565,969 filed Sep. 10, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No.10,845,646 issued Nov. 24, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 16/189,588 filed Nov. 13, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No.10,437,103 issued Oct. 8, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 15/693,958 filed Sep. 1, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No.10,175,532 issued Jan. 8, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/809,790 filed Jul. 27, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No.9,785,008 issued Oct. 10, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/167,514 filed Jan. 29, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No.9,122,100 issued Sep. 1, 2015, which claims priority from Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2013-0011150, filed Jan. 31, 2013 in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office. The disclosures of the above-listedapplications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments relate toa display panel to display an image through a liquid crystal, a displaymodule having a backlight unit to emit light toward the display panel,and a display apparatus having the same.

2. Description of the Related Art

A display module is an apparatus including a display panel on which animage is displayed, and is used for various display apparatuses such asmonitors and televisions.

A liquid crystal display (LCD) panel is widely used as a display panel,but the display panel using the LCD panel is unable to emit light byitself. For this reason, a backlight unit is disposed behind the displaypanel, and a diffusion plate to diffuse light illuminated from thebacklight unit is arranged between the display panel and the backlightunit, thereby enabling light to be evenly dispersed and supplied to theentire display panel.

In addition, a display module may include a reflective sheet which isdisposed on an inner side of a bottom chassis defining a rear surface ofthe display module to reflect light reflected to the bottom chassistoward the front of the display panel.

In the display module, only a little amount of light may be transmittedto the most peripheral side of the display panel compared with the otherregions thereof. Consequently, a dark shadow may be generated at themost peripheral side of the display panel. Therefore, in order toprevent the above issue, the light source needs to be disposed close tothe side portions of the display module.

SUMMARY

Exemplary embodiments may address at least the above problems and/ordisadvantages and other disadvantages not described above. Also, theexemplary embodiments are not required to overcome the disadvantagesdescribed above, and an exemplary embodiment may not overcome any of theproblems described above.

One or more of exemplary embodiments provide a display module and adisplay apparatus capable of reducing generation of a hotspot at aperipheral side of the display panel.

In accordance with an aspect of an exemplary embodiment, there isprovided a display module includes a display panel, a backlight unitdisposed behind the display panel to illuminate light toward the displaypanel, a bottom chassis to accommodate the backlight unit therein, and areflective sheet disposed inside the bottom chassis to allow lightilluminated from the backlight unit to be reflected forward, wherein thereflective sheet includes a sheet bottom portion corresponding to afront surface of the bottom chassis, a sheet side surface portion whichis obliquely formed to face a rear surface of the display panel, and atleast one light adjustment portion which is provided on the sheet sidesurface portion to adjust light reflected by the sheet side surfaceportion.

The light adjustment portion may include a plurality of slits extendingparallel with the front surface of the bottom chassis.

The light adjustment portion may include a rectangular hole extendingparallel with the front surface of the bottom chassis.

The light adjustment portion may include an oval hole extending parallelwith the front surface of the bottom chassis.

The backlight unit may include a plurality of boards and a plurality oflight emitting diodes (LEDs) disposed on the boards to be spaced apartfrom each other, and the at least one light adjustment portion mayinclude a plurality of light adjustment portions formed to be spaceapart from each other such that the light adjustment portions correspondto LEDs disposed adjacent to the sheet side surface portion among theLEDs.

The backlight unit may include a plurality of lenses which arerespectively installed on the LEDs, and the reflective sheet may includea plurality of through holes which are provided in the sheet bottomportion so that the LEDs and lenses protrude through the through holes.

In accordance with an aspect of an exemplary embodiment, there isprovided a display apparatus includes a display module to display ascreen, wherein the display module includes a display panel, a backlightunit disposed behind the display panel to illuminate light toward thedisplay panel, a bottom chassis to accommodate the backlight unittherein, and a reflective sheet disposed inside the bottom chassis toallow light illuminated from the backlight unit to be reflected forward,and the reflective sheet includes a sheet bottom portion correspondingto a front surface of the bottom chassis, a sheet side surface portionwhich is obliquely formed to face a rear surface of the display panel,and at least one light adjustment portion which is provided on the sheetside surface portion to adjust light reflected by the sheet side surfaceportion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and/or other aspects will become more apparent by describingcertain exemplary embodiments, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a display apparatusaccording to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a display moduleaccording to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the display moduleaccording to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating light adjustment portions toan exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating light adjustment portionsaccording to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating light adjustment portionsaccording to an exemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating light adjustment portionsaccording to an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain exemplary embodiments are described in greater detail below withreference to the accompanying drawings.

In the following description, the same drawing reference numerals areused for the same elements even in different drawings. The mattersdefined in the description, such as detailed construction and elements,are provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplaryembodiments. Thus, it is apparent that exemplary embodiments can becarried out without those specifically defined matters. Also, well-knownfunctions or constructions are not described in detail since they wouldobscure exemplary embodiments with unnecessary detail.

As shown in FIG. 1 , a display apparatus includes a display module 10 onwhich an image is displayed, a front case 20F and a rear case 20Rbetween which the display module 10 is installed while the front case20F and the rear case 20R are coupled to each other in a forward andrearward direction. A control substrate 30 is disposed between thedisplay module 10 and the rear case 20R to transmit power and a signalto the display module 10.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , the display module 10 includes a displaypanel 11 which includes an LCD panel to display a screen. Backlightunits 12 are disposed behind the display panel 11 and are spaced apartfrom each other to supply light to the display panel 11. A diffusionplate 13 is disposed behind the display panel 11 so that lightilluminated from the backlight units 12 is diffused and transmitted tothe display panel 11, and a variety of optical sheets 14A and 14B isdisposed on a front surface of the diffusion plate 13.

The display module 10 includes a middle mold 15 to support the displaypanel 11 and the diffusion plate 13, and a top chassis 16 installed infront of the middle mold 15 to position the display panel 11 on themiddle mold 15. The backlight units 12 are installed in a bottom chassis17 which is installed behind the middle mold 15.

The backlight units 12 include printed circuit boards 12 a which aredisposed in the bottom chassis 17 while each has a conductive pattern,LEDs 12 b which are installed on a front surface of each printed circuitboard 12 a to face the diffusion plate 13, and circular lenses 12 cwhich are installed on the respective LEDs 12 b to diffuse lightgenerated by the LEDs 12 b.

In an exemplary embodiment, each printed circuit board 12 a is elongatedin one direction to correspond to a length of the display panel 11. Theprinted circuit boards 12 a are disposed to be spaced parallel with eachother, in an array. The LEDs 12 b and the lenses 12 c installed on therespective LEDs 12 b are disposed to be spaced apart from each other ina longitudinal direction of each of the printed circuit boards. Theprinted circuit boards 12 a are connected to each other by a connectionsubstrate 12 d.

The optical sheet 14A may include a prism film to concentrate lightdiffused by the diffusion plate 13 in a direction perpendicular to thedisplay panel 11, and the optical sheet 14B may include a protectivefilm to protect the prism film.

The middle mold 15 may be embodied as a module having the display panel11 at the front side and the diffusion plate 13 at the rear side and mayprovide support for the display panel 11 and the diffusion plate 13. Theoptical sheets 14A and 14B may be further disposed between the diffusionplate 13 and the rear side.

The top chassis 16 has a bezel portion 16 a covering a front surface ofa periphery of the display panel 11, and a top side surface portion 16 bbent rearward from a periphery of the bezel portion 16 a.

The bottom chassis 17 has a substantially rectangular shape, andincludes a bottom front surface 17 a on which the backlight units 12 arepositioned and a bottom side surface 17 b extending toward the displaypanel from a periphery of the bottom front surface 17 a. The bottomfront surface 17 b has seating grooves 17 c which are recessed so thatthe printed circuit boards 12 a of the backlight units 12 arerespectively positioned in the seating grooves 17 c.

The display module 10 includes a reflective sheet 18 which is disposedinside the bottom chassis 17 to reflect light illuminated toward theinside of the bottom chassis 17 toward the display panel 11.

The reflective sheet 18 includes a sheet bottom portion 18 a which isdisposed at the bottom front surface 17 a which defines the frontsurface of the bottom chassis 17, and a sheet inclined portion 18 bwhich extends toward the display panel from a peripheral edge 18 f ofthe sheet bottom portion 18 a.

The sheet bottom portion 18 a is provided with holes 18 c at respectivepositions corresponding to each of the LEDs 12 b and the lenses 12 c sothat the LEDs 12 b and the lenses 12 c protrude through the reflectivesheet 18 through the holes 18 c. The light L1 generated by the LEDs 12 bis emitted toward the display panel 11 in a forward direction F, and aportion the light reflected in a rearward direction R by the diffusionplate 13 or the like is reflected in the forward direction by thereflective sheet 18.

The sheet inclined portion 18 b extends toward the display panel 11 fromthe periphery of the sheet bottom portion 18 a, namely fromup-down-left-right tips of the sheet bottom portion 18 a, and isobliquely formed, at an oblique angle β with respect to a plane of thesheet bottom portion 18 a, to face the rear surface of the display panel11. Consequently, a light portion L2 emitted by the LEDs 12 b andincident on the sheet inclined portion 18 b may be reflected toward thedisplay panel 11. In an exemplary embodiment, since the diffusion plate13 is disposed behind the display panel 11, the sheet inclined portion18 b is obliquely formed to face the rear surface of the diffusion plate13.

In the display module 10, only a little amount of light may betransmitted to the most peripheral side of the display panel 11 comparedwith the other regions thereof. Consequently, a dark shadow may begenerated at the most peripheral side of the display panel 11 comparedwith the other regions. Therefore, in order to prevent the above issue,the LEDs 12 b need to be disposed substantially close to the sheetinclined portion 18 b.

However, in a case in which the LEDs 12 b are installed adjacent to thesheet inclined portion 18 b, light L1 directly emitted by the LEDs 12 band the light L2 reflected by the sheet inclined portion 18 b maysimultaneously reach a region of the display panel 11 adjacent to theLEDs 12 b, and, thus, a light hotspot may be generated at a tip side ofthe display panel 11 adjacent to the LEDs 12 b as compared with otherregions.

Accordingly, to prevent the above issue, the sheet inclined portion 18 bmay be provided with one or several light adjustment portions 18 d topartially adjust light reflected by the sheet inclined portion 18 b, asshown in FIG. 4 .

In an exemplary embodiment, the light adjustment portions 18 drespectively correspond to the LEDs 12 b which are disposed adjacent tothe sheet inclined portion 18 b. Furthermore, in an exemplaryembodiment, each of the light adjustment portions 18 d includes aplurality of slits 18 e which extend in parallel with the bottom frontsurface 17 a of the bottom chassis 17. For example, the slits 18 e mayextend in parallel with the peripheral edge 18 f disposed between thesheet bottom portion 18 a and the sheet inclined portion 18 b.

The light adjustment portion 18 d configured of the slits 18 e is formedby thin cutting the sheet inclined portion 18 b in a linear form.Accordingly, a portion of light incident toward the light adjustmentportion 18 d may leak to a space 19 between the sheet inclined portion18 b and the bottom side surface 17 b through the slits 18 e.

In addition, portions adjacent to the slits may be deformed convexly orconcavely in the process of forming the light adjustment portion 18 d bycutting the sheet inclined portion 18 b. Thus, a portion of lightincident upon the light adjustment portion 18 d may be dispersed inlongitudinal directions of the slits due to shapes of the adjacentportions.

Accordingly, a portion of light incident toward the light adjustmentportion 18 d leaks through the slits, and is dispersed in thelongitudinal directions of the slits by the adjacent portions of theslits. Consequently, it may be possible to reduce a hotspot generatedwhen light is concentrated at a particular region.

In an exemplary embodiment, the light adjustment portion 18 d is formedby the slits extending in parallel with each other, but this is notlimiting. As shown in FIG. 5 , a light adjustment portion 18 d-1 may beformed as a rectangular hole extending in parallel with the bottom frontsurface 17 a. For example, a lengthwise direction of the rectangularhole may extend in parallel with the peripheral edge 18 f.

As another example, as shown in FIG. 6 , a light adjustment portion 18d-2 may be formed as an oval hole extending in parallel with the bottomfront surface 17 a. For example, a lengthwise direction of the oval holemay extend in parallel with the peripheral edge 18 f.

When the light adjustment portion 18 d-1 or 18 d-2 is formed as arectangular hole or an oval hole, a portion of light emitted by the LEDs12 b and incident on the sheet inclined portion 18 b may leak to a space19 between the sheet inclined portion 18 b and the bottom side surface17 b through the rectangular hole or the oval hole. Therefore, the lightreflected toward the periphery of the display panel 11 by the sheetinclined portion 18 b is decreased, thereby reducing generation ofhotspots.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 7 , a light adjustment portion 18 d-3 maybe formed by a light diffusion layer made by applying or coating a lightdiffusion material on the sheet inclined portion 18 b.

As apparent from the above description, since a light adjustment portionis provided on a sheet side surface portion of a reflective sheet and anamount of light reflected by the sheet side surface portion of thereflective sheet is reduced or dispersed, it may be possible to reducegeneration of a hotspot at a peripheral side of a display panel.

The foregoing exemplary embodiments and advantages are merely exemplaryand are not to be construed as limiting. The present teaching can bereadily applied to other types of apparatuses. Also, the description ofthe exemplary embodiments is intended to be illustrative, and not tolimit the scope of the claims, and many alternatives, modifications, andvariations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A display apparatus comprising: a display panel;a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) disposed behind the displaypanel and spaced from the display panel to emit light toward the displaypanel; and a reflective member configured to reflect light incidentthereon toward the display panel, wherein the reflective membercomprises: a reflective bottom portion, and a reflective inclinedportion obliquely formed to face a rear surface of the display panel,wherein the reflective inclined portion comprises: a plurality of firstregions that respectively correspond to LEDs, among the plurality ofLEDs, being located adjacent to the reflective inclined portion, and aplurality of second regions, wherein each of the plurality of secondregions is provided between two neighboring first regions, the pluralityof first regions comprise a plurality of light adjusting members, theplurality of second regions and neighboring first regions are on thereflective inclined portion, each of the plurality of first regionscomprises a group of light adjusting members, among the plurality oflight adjusting members, the group of light adjusting members of each ofthe plurality of first regions is disposed to correspond to one of theLEDs disposed adjacent to the reflective inclined portion, and the twoneighboring first regions have more light adjusting members,respectively, than one of the plurality of second regions disposedtherebetween.
 2. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theplurality of light adjusting members are formed of a light adjustingmaterial on the reflective inclined portion.
 3. The display apparatusaccording to claim 2, wherein the plurality of light adjusting membersare coated on the reflective inclined portion.
 4. The display apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of second regionsreflects more light than each of the plurality of first regions.
 5. Thedisplay apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the light adjustingmaterial comprises a light diffusion material configured to diffuselight.
 6. The display apparatus according to claim 5, wherein theplurality of light adjusting members are formed by a diffusion layermade by coating the light diffusion material on the reflective inclinedportion.
 7. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at leastone from among the plurality of first regions and the plurality ofsecond regions is formed by holes.
 8. The display apparatus according toclaim 7, wherein the holes are formed in a shape of at least one fromamong of a slit, an oval, and a rectangle.
 9. The display apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein a density of the plurality of lightadjusting members included in at least one neighboring first region ishigher than a density of light adjusting members included in one of theplurality of second regions adjacent to the at least one neighboringfirst region.
 10. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein atleast one neighboring first region has more light adjusting members thanone of the plurality of second regions adjacent to the at least oneneighboring first region.
 11. A display apparatus comprising: a displaypanel; a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) disposed behind thedisplay panel and spaced from the display panel to emit light toward thedisplay panel; and a reflective member configured to reflect lightincident thereon toward the display panel, wherein the reflective membercomprises: a reflective bottom portion, and a reflective inclinedportion obliquely formed to face a rear surface of the display panel,wherein the reflective inclined portion comprises: a plurality of firstregions that respectively correspond to LEDs, among the plurality ofLEDs, being located adjacent to the reflective inclined portion, and aplurality of second regions, wherein each of the plurality of secondregions is provided between two neighboring first regions, the pluralityof first regions comprise a plurality of light adjusting members, theplurality of second regions and neighboring first regions are on thereflective inclined portion, and the two neighboring first regions havemore light adjusting members, respectively, than one of the plurality ofsecond regions disposed therebetween.